Pave the Way
by Shaggyd0g14
Summary: They both stayed on heir sides of the streets, until their was only one way to go...Takumi Oneshot kinda long


Pave the Way

It was a simple walk. It took about 5 to 10 minutes every morning. Izumi Orimoto walked to school every morning. Her parents had to leave for work before she left for school, and she convinced them she could just walk. She never would've asked if she had known HE also walked to school.

It started on the first week of school. She closed the front door as she saw her parents' car drive around the corner and out of sight. She sighed and began her small trek. She was exhausted, as most kids are when they wake up at such an hour, but it was the first day of school, and that lightened her mood up a little bit. A new year meant new teachers, new students, and new schedules! Plus she didn't really have to do anything, usually on the first day all you do is get to know your teachers and how things will work for the rest of year.

Izumi had only walked a block or too when she felt she wasn't alone. Not like those creepy stalkers, just that someone else was there. She glanced over to the sidewalk across from the one she was walking on. That's when she first saw him. He wore Olive Green pants, a yellow shirt with some weird symbol on it, and he wore a red jacket over the shirt. On top of some seemingly messy yet fitting hair was a hat, the same shade of green as his pants, and with an odd pair of goggles wrapped around.

Izumi quietly studied the boy, not knowing what to do. He looked about her age, but she had never seen him before. She never was very sociable, and she hated that part of herself, but she was shy. _Should I say hi?_She thought. _No…I'll just keep walking._ And that's what she did. The boy had long noticed Izumi before vice versa, and he considered saying hi, but he decided against it. He was nervous enough as it was, and he didn't need help. So he just kept on walking.

They both just kept on walking. They stayed on their side of the sidewalks until they reached school. Izumi secretly let out a sigh of relief. She didn't think this new boy was weird, but that was the most awkward moment of her life. She took out the folded piece of paper in her pocket and looked for her homeroom. She found it and headed off. After passing a couple of lockers, she heard footsteps behind her. She thought nothing of it; it WAS a school after all. She reached her homeroom door and opened it. Much to her surprise someone followed her from behind. It was that same boy! Now that she was closer she could make out his features much clearer now. He had pure chocolate brown eyes with auburn hair to match. Izumi wasn't the girly preppy type, but she had to admit, he was cute.

She quickly ran to her seat to avoid eye contact. "Class, I know you are all new to this grade, but we have someone new to this school. His name is Takuya Kanbara," The teacher announced, with a very obvious tone of boredom in his voice. Takuya stood up so everyone could see him, and then sat back down just as quickly.

The next week flew by. Takuya had made many new friends. Izumi was fine except every morning on the walk to school. Every morning, there was that awkward silence between the two. They stayed on their sidewalk every morning. Not ever taking a step towards the other's. This procedure continued on for about a month. Izumi has discovered that Takuya wasn't a bad guy; he was kind, funny, and smart for the most part. Although they often crossed paths, they never directly spoke to each other.

Another month passed. Izumi was sitting in homeroom, waiting for the bell to ring. She scanned the room to see what everyone else was doing. Her attention was first drawn to the girly girl group. She didn't really like them, and they didn't really like her, and she was absolutely fine with that. There were one or two of her friends that were in there, but they weren't as snotty as the others, but they had their moments. The next group was the outcast group. She had nothing against them. They were a little weird, but they had good times and they seemed nice enough. Of course, there was the Goth group. Well that's what everyone labeled them as. They only wore black and skulls, no make-up or anything drastic. They still laughed and had fun together, and Izumi didn't mind talking to them. Then lastly, the _cool _group. They were composed of jocks, cheerleaders, and pretty much anyone popular. Izumi especially despised them. They thought they were better than everyone else, and they sure didn't have a problem with showing it.

The cool group was laughing about something pointless, well that's what she thought, but her eyes came across that one boy. She didn't know what it was about that boy, she tried to avoid him as much as possible, not because she didn't like him, but just because every moment between them was awkward. He laughed when everyone else did but didn't seem to be paying attention much. _Maybe he i__sn't as sleazy as everyone else in that group_

Through all the books, homework, and rumors, Izumi was grateful to have made another month through school. It was November, and Izumi was looking forward to Thanksgiving Break. During the month of October Izumi had learned even more about Takuya. He was very athletic, actually, when Soccer season started, he immediately signed up. He became kind of an all star, leading most points and some very impressive steals. Izumi would sometimes go to his games, although she wasn't a fan of sports. She stood behind the bleachers so he couldn't see her.

She lay in her bed, getting ready to sleeping for Thanksgiving break. She stared up blankly onto the ceiling. _Why? Why do I act like__ I can't be near him? What is it? That's it. When I go back to school, I am going to act like my regular self!_

Izumi went to visit relatives for the week, and even though it was boring, she relatively enjoyed it. When she got back, she noticed up ahead that they were doing some construction. She just looked at it for a second, and then turned away. They were always building some new or improving areas in her town. They had done it so much now every time she saw a construction site she would take a guess of what they are creating just to amuse herself. This time she was going for a small park. From what she could see (a tractor was blocking her view) it looked like it was almost done.

Whatever it was, it wasn't her problem for at least 2 days. For most kids, the 2 days left flew by like that, and most kids grumbled. Izumi rubbed her throbbing eyes as she forced her feet to move, step by step. She drew closer to the construction site, ready to take an alternate route if blocked. When she approached, she saw they were just redoing the sidewalks. Much to her luck, they were generous enough to leave a little trail open in the middle. Izumi headed towards the middle, drifting away from her usual side. She began walking through the middle. She was trying her best not to doff, but she closed her eyes for a second, until she felt something brush her shoulder. She immediately reacted and shot up, looking at what it might be.

She used exhaustion as an excuse to cover up her stupidity. She was so out of it she forgot about Takuya! This was probably the closest they've ever been. With a narrow trail, and two people side by side, they were at least touching shoulders. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't know they were doing work over here…" he said, keeping his face low. "It's ok," She said shyly. _At school he is usually happy go lucky at school, why is he acting shy all of a sudden? _She thought. Then she remembered her commitment she made that night, she took a silent gulp and finally asked "So how do you like our school so far?"

Takuya seemed surprised that she had actually started a conversation. "Oh it's cool," he mumbled…"What about you? You never seem to really want anything to do with anybody," Izumi was slightly taken back, one because he was continuing the conversation, and second because he had noticed something she never really noticed until now. "I just…" She stopped walking, and when Takuya noticed, so did he. "I guess I just don't think I fit in anywhere. I mean you see the different groups, I just don't fit in…" She thought about what she just said, did she just open up to him? She didn't know why but she felt like she could trust him.

He looked at her with concerned eyes "No one said you have to fit it, be yourself, and a true friend will like you for who you are," He said smiling. Izumi thought about what he said. _A true friend…_

He saw the expression on her face. "Hey, no matter what happens, you'll always have me as a friend," Izumi was touched by his words. She felt her eyes water up, and then she did the unexpected. Takuya felt two arms wrap around him and a head on his shoulder. She was hugging him. "Thank you," She whispered, tears running freely. After recovering, he hugged her back. When he hugged her, he felt how cold her skin was. It was early December, and fairly cold. "Here," he said handing her his jacket. Before Izumi could object, she realized how cold she really was. "Thanks" she said and eagerly put on the jacket. It was warmer than it looked.

The day before Christmas Break. It had taken longer for them to finish the sidewalks due to the cold, but Izumi was pretty sure it would be useable today. She shut her front door and started her miniature trek. When she was close enough, she saw the beauty of the new side walk. The previous was worn out and dirty, but this one seems to sparkle, it was smooth, clean, and even had more color to it. _Kudos to our neighborhood_ Izumi thought, taking her first step on the brand new pavement. She heard a door close and saw Takuya walk down his front steps. She smiled at him and walked over to his side. "Nice, huh?" Izumi said, gesturing towards the pavement. Takuya smiled and nodded.

"Takuya…" Izumi mumbled.

"Yes Izumi?"

Without another word, Izumi leaned over, and gave him a small peck on the cheek. He blushed for a moment, and then gave her a confused look. She couldn't help but smile.

"That's what friends are for," she said sweetly.

They both walked down something new, starting something new themselves.


End file.
